Jit Camp

  With the popularity of exotic sodas on the rise, Exotic POP has taken over the game bringing “unique beverage boutiques” to every location that has one of their machines. Sodas ranging from brands Old Tyme, C&C, and even Coca-Cola products with new flavors Coca-Cola Vanilla Float and Fanta White Peach. from foreign lands. The price range on the various pop goes from $5-$30. These sodas are for the true soda connoisseur. With different boutique soda shops opening up in the DT St. Pete area, the time is right for Exotic POP to have an official location in the area. 

   The brand first gained notoriety from TMZ covering the custom Exotic POP machine made for rapper Lil Pump. The brand also made custom machine and soda for Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival. Drake and Lil Wayne have also shown love to the brand, with the former regularly being seen with a Exotic POP double cup in hand. 

   With over twenty locations around the country, most notably the Busy Bee store and Screwed Up Records both located in the brands hometown Houston,Texas. The former is the record store of the late Chopped and Screwed Pioneer DJ Screw, who even has his own cotton candy soda as a part of the exclusive hip hop legends Exotic POP soda collection. The collection features a Pimp C “Sweet Jones Strawberry”, Fat Pat’s “Ghetto Dreams Pineapple”  and my personal favorite the Big Moe Bar Yar “Purple Drank”. 

     Founder Charleston Wilson started Exotic POP with one goal to make hard to find sodas for accessible to consumers. After scouring the south for obscure local brands, Wilson decided to create the first Exotic POP machine. Not only does the brand now feature exotic sodas from across the globe, different “Exotic Snaxs” are now a part of the brand. 

I personally feel that the city is ready to be apart of the Exoitc Pop family due to the rise in popularity of exotic drinks. Many fake locations have popped up in the area, but until a true Exotic POP ambassador for St.Pete brings a machine to the area we are only able to use the official Exotic Pop app. few locations popping up around Florida I think now is the perfect time to introduce the St.Petersburg/Tampa Bay Area to the real “Unique Beverage Boutique”.

With their up coming film “Uncut Gems” coming out this weekend I decided to go back and check out the Safdie Bro’s previous films. The duo is one of studio A24s stable of talented directors. Bringing us some of the best original films of the decade.

  Their first feature “Heaven Knows What” gave off a NY DIY feel that really gave the film so reality, taking the audience into the the heroin filled underbelly of NY. 

  With good time the Safdie Bro’s amped up the tension with a fast paced style similar to Michael Mann’s “Thief” a story dealing with the crime filled underbelly of NY.  The electronic score is very similar to the Tangerine Dream score from “Thief” as well.  The bail bond sequences really gave off that Michael Mann vibe. 

   The film really was bringing me along at first but  once Connie played by Robert Pattinson in his best film role to date, takes the wrong person thinking it’s his brother the film sort of goes off the rails. I don’t think we needed that whole acid sprite bottle sequence at Adventure Land, like I get it he needs money but by then his brother is already in the hospital. Benny Safdie’s performance as Nick could have gone down hill but the way Safdie plays it you really feel bad for the brother and can see that Connie is  a selfish person just looking for another person to use like he did with Jennifer Jason Leigh. 

   The acting in this film is def an upgrade from their previous, keeping that sort of Cassavetes esque improv style dialogue but the actors are more polished in this film which puts it over those generic NY mumble core films of the early 2010s. 

The Safidie Bro’s are def worth following and with the big buzz of “Uncut Gems” they have moved their self from indie NY directors to actual  Oscar contenders. I would say definitely check out good time if your look for a modern day NY crime thriller. 

Grade: B+

A great follow up to one of my favorite films of last year “Hereditary”. 

The improvements in world building from Aster’s first feature allows for repeat viewings. Once you know the lore behind some of the villages traditions. Not sure if the demons in this film have a correlation to the one in his previous film but time will tell.

I found the characters lacked like ability and just felt like devices to further along the plot. I found Will Poulter of “Breaking Bad” fame to be the most amusing of the bunch. The crew that portrayed all the villagers did a fantastic job and really made you feel like you where living on their compound.

The trippy feel the film gives off has the characters being experimenting with mushrooms and various magic teas is something very seen in other films that try to take the psychedelic approach. Often films add in unrealistic elements like wacky unicorns or talking plants. Aster’s approach gives off the sense that the plant life is a living breathing thing, in some cases even becoming one with the humans. 

The set design for the film is top notch. The shots all have a flat perfect look to them, that blend well with the sets capturing a Kubrickian esthetic.

The gore elements of the film are what will bring me back for a rewatch. I enjoyed how Aster didn’t hold back, giving us one of the most shocking scenes on the year.

If your a fan of modern horror I would definitely suggest this. The run time is a little longer than it needs to be but definitely one of my favs from this years. 

Grade: B

A yearly Christmas tradition for me is to watch the old Rankin Bass Christmas specials. Mostly known for their stop motion portrayals of Rudolph and Santa, the technique called “animagic” was created by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass during the seventies and eighties. For me the evil doers in these Christmas tales interest me more then the hero’s. Whether it be jealousy of Santa or just trying to survive the fact that each one of these villains tries to end Christmas makes them the worst of the worst. This is my Top 5 Rankin Bass holiday villains.

  Note: Characters like the Heat and Snow miser didn’t make the list because they eventually turn good, all of these picks are pure evil. 

Honorable Mentions: The Cat and Fox from Pinchocios Christmas do some mischievous stuff but not enough to make the list. The Dukes servant they sell Pinchocio to has one of the best songs in the Rankin Bass films. The Agwahs from “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” are pretty evil looking but the film lacks as a whole for them to make it on the list.

  5. Old Mag the Banshee. (Leprechaun Christmas Gold 1981)

   One of my favorite  underrated movies from the Rankin/Bass series of films is “Leprechaun Christmas Gold” due to the wacky Banshee that is released from the pine tree. If she does not secure the Leprechaun’s gold by Christmas she will turn to tears. In order to do this she uses various disguises to trick the various inhabitants of the island. 

4. Eon The Terrible (Rudolph’s Shiny New Year 1975) 

   This giant bird doesn’t necessarily try to ruin Christmas but rather the New Year instead. In order for Eon to go on ruling over The Island of No Name found in the Archipelago of Last Years were old years go to retire. The only way for Eon to survive from turning into snow and ice is to capture the baby New Year Happy who if not returned to Father Time by the twelfth bong on New Years Eve, time will stop preserving Eon.

3. Burgermeister Meisterburger (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 1970)

   Not only is he the first person to try and stop Santa from giving out toys but he also sends him to jail. After slipping on a toy breaking his leg Meisterburger bans all the toys in the town, making Santa an outlaw. Eventually Santa is able to change is heart with the power of Christmas by giving him his Childhood favorite toy a yoyo. 

2. Kubla Kraus (Jack Frost 1979)

  The top two spots could have gone either way but Kubla landed second due to his inability to really hurt anyone. His band of Keh-Nights and his iron horse Klang Stomper are pretty dope and his King of the Cossacks song is definitely a mood. His friend and right hand man Domy is the comic relief really adding to Kublas evilness. He rules over January Junction with an iron fist forcing them to rely on Jack Frost’s ice coins instead of Kaputnicks.

1.Winterbolt (Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July 1979)

The ice wizard who is pretty much responsible for this list getting made. Whether it’s his magic ice septor that he uses to extinguish Rudolph’s Nose, or his fog breathing snakes that keep Santa from flying his sleigh.Winterbolt is the epitome of Christmas evil, he even has his own ice genie. After Lady Boreal, Queen of the Northern Lights sends Winterbolt into a deep sleep Santa is able to take over the North Pole restoring the wild life and the Kringles to the area. After he awakens Winterbolt seeks to claim his throne back as king of the north “making the world his own personal snow ball.” In order to do this he tricks Rudolph and Frosty into helping out the Circus By The Sea which puts Frosty and his family in danger of melting. So basically Winterbolt kills Frosty and his family. He also recruits the evil reindeer Scratcher from The Cave of Lost Rejections featuring a rogues gallery of evil North Pole wildlife. Winterbolt definitely has the best death of all the villains, with him turning into a meth addict tree after Ethel Merman breaks his magic spetor. Winterbolt takes on the holy trinity of Christmas hero’s and almost succeeded making him the number one Rankin/Bass Christmas Special Villan.